Community Corner

The Clock is Ticking; You Have Until 11:59 p.m.

If you need to get your tax returns posted tonight, here is a list of post offices that can help you.

If you are a procrastinator of the first order, only a few post offices will accept your income-tax returns before today's 11:59 p.m. deadline.

The long-held tradition of post offices extending hours on Tax Day is becoming a relic of the past for two reasons: the increased popularity of e-filing makes the practice of mailing returns obsolete and the cash-strapped United States Postal Service can no longer afford to extend hours of operation to help last-minute filers.

The Internal Revenue Service debuted e-file nationally in 1990, delivering 4.2 million tax returns that year. A whopping 99 million people—or about 70 percent of all taxpayers—used the government's e-file service to file taxes in 2010, and that percentage rose to 77 percent last year.

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Traditionally, the date is April 15, but that was a Sunday this year. Monday is celebrated as the Emancipation Day holiday in Washington, D.C., so the deadline for income-tax returns to be postmarked, is today, Tuesday.

No area post offices will be open past their regular closing time, which ranges from 5:30 to 7 p.m. The following post offices have a public area open 24 hours each day that have postage machines that will allow a patron to post mail. You have until 11:59 p.m. to post your federal and state tax returns at these U.S. Post Offices:

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  • Batavia Post Office, 500 North Randall Rd.
  • Downers Grove, 920 Curtiss St.
  • Elmhurst, 154 W. Park Ave.
  • La Grange, 121 W. Hillgrove Ave.
  • St. Charles, 616 E. Main St.
  • Wheaton, 122 N. Wheaton Ave.

Or don't sweat it and file for an extension.


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